Recently, Pope Francis washed the feet of several young people, including young women. He did this in the wake of Pope Benedict's resignation. Here are two interesting discussions of Pope Francis's actions and a look at recent popes who thought about resigning but didn't do so in the end.

It has been widely reported that, when he was still the cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, the future Pope Francis washed the feet of women during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Now he has done so as pope.

Did he break the Church’s law?

What does this event mean, and how can we understand what he was trying to do?

To misrepresent the purpose of Christ’s washing the feet of His Apostles on Holy Thursday in preparation for His instituting The Sacrament of Holy Orders, and The Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist and The Holy and Divine Liturgy, only serves to cause confusion, not clarity. To ignore the truth of Scripture, is to ignore the truth of Christ.

Hello Jimmy,
I am disappointed with Al in that he did not go further with the discussion.

1) We know what Francis’ gesture in washing the feet of Muslims was meant to convey, but what was actually understood in the Muslim world? Would this be read as a submission of the Pope to Islam? Cultures do not interpret gestures the same way. For example, kissing the Koran could be interpreted in the West as a gesture of tolerance toward what others reverence, whereas in Islam, it might be interpreted as submission to the “word of Allah and his one true prophet”. Very different messages.

2) To what extent did the Muslims participate in the rest of the Mass? Were they given communion? Was any provision made for the youth to attend confession before this Mass? One would think that special pastoral care would be indicated for prisoners to attend Mass. After all, it is likely these “youth” were not innocent lambs unjustly imprisoned, particularly in Italy.

@The Masked Chicken, with all due respect, this particular Day was not like any other day, it was Holy Thursday, the Day that Christ instituted The Sacrament of Holy Orders, and The Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist and The Holy and Divine Liturgy. The Words of Consecration can be found in The Last Supper Discourse in The Gospel of John, including the words of Consecration in regards to Holy Communion.